Nuclear-powered submarines can operate submerged for months at a time. Submariners are all volunteers rigorously tested before acceptance. Even more than in conventional submarines, the physical and psychological stamina of the crew on nuclear-powered submarines becomes a crucial factor. They must also deal, while on patrol, with being largely cut off from the outside world, including their families, for long periods of time.
Crew members live inside a pressure hull filled with the machinery required to keep them alive and allow the ship to function. They must make do with the cramped spaces between the machines, enjoying little stowage space or privacy. The submariner's day lasts 18 hours: three 6-hour watch cycles, 1 on and 2 off. He stands a duty watch, then has the next 12 hours for everything else: repair and maintenance tasks, study, relaxation, eating, and sleeping. Then it's back to the duty watch.
Credits
The Museum
gratefully acknowledges the following individuals for donating or loaning
their objects and photographs to the Life Aboard section of the exhibition:
Barry C. Danforth, Frederick C. Engle, Charles J. Kotan, Harold N. Lieberman,
Joseph McGowan, David Rivera II, John Collis, Jay Snoke, Walter Laetere,
SubmarineStore.com, Larry Drake.
Back to: Home / Operating a Nuclear Submarine
Copyright © 2000, The National Museum of American History
Nuclear-powered submarines
can operate submerged for months at a time. Submariners are all volunteers
rigorously tested before acceptance. Even more than in conventional submarines,
the physical and psychological stamina of the crew on nuclear-powered
submarines becomes a crucial factor. They must also deal, while on patrol,
with being largely cut off from the outside world, including their families,
for long periods of time.
Crew members live inside a pressure hull filled with the machinery required
to keep them alive and allow the ship to function. They must make do with
the cramped spaces between the machines, enjoying little stowage space
or privacy. The submariner's day lasts 18 hours: three 6-hour watch cycles,
1 on and 2 off. He stands a duty watch, then has the next 12 hours for
everything else: repair and maintenance tasks, study, relaxation, eating,
and sleeping. Then it's back to the duty watch.
Crew members live inside a pressure hull filled with the machinery required
to keep them alive and allow the ship to function. They must make do with
the cramped spaces between the machines, enjoying little stowage space
or privacy. The submariner's day lasts 18 hours: three 6-hour watch cycles,
1 on and 2 off. He stands a duty watch, then has the next 12 hours for
everything else: repair and mainten
the ship to function. They must make do with the cramped spaces between the machines, enjoying little stowage space or privacy. The submariner's day lasts 18 hours: three 6-hour watch cycles, 1 on and 2 off. He stands a duty watch, then has the next 12 hours for everything else: repair and mance tasks,
